Catch Me
by Ackleholic89
Summary: AU/All Human. Elena is starting back to school after being away for nearly a year and half. No one truly knows everything that happened before she left and while she was gone. Not even Elena.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

Some background on this story:

I started writing a Klaroline Christmas story earlier this year set a few years into the future (never posted it). I liked the back story about her and her friends so much that I decided I would write the "back story" first and keep the Klaroline Christmas fic for the sequel. Well, as I started writing this new story, I wasn't getting very far. I realized that this was not the story I wanted to tell.

I read a few books, most recently The Maze Runner, where stuff has happened prior to the book starting and the characters keep referencing things as if you're already supposed to know, and eventually you catch on or it gets explained somehow (although in The Maze Runner, the main character, Thomas was as clueless as the reader). I decided to take a similar approach to this fic. So (not to make things confusing) I decided to start in the middle of the original back story. It will be told in real time with certain things being recalled via flashback, so if that's confusing, I apologize. I'm also not even sure if this is even going to be the same story I started off writing.

It's sort of already developed a mind of it's own and things I didn't originally intend to happen are happening and I'm only four chapters in. Right now, it's written in 3rd person, but following Elena. I may change it up later depending on what's going on. If there's something specific you'd like to see in the flashbacks, let me know in the reviews. If it's not already in my plans to recap, I'll mention you when I add it in. Finally, I'm rating it T, although some themes may be more mature (such as teen drug use-no details, just that it happens- and who knows what else, since like I said this story has developed a life of its own). If you guys feel like I should change the rating, let me know. I love reading reviews. When I have a lot of good reviews, it a) reminds me to post chapters that I've already written and b) encourages me to write more.

Also, in this story, Elena and Katherine are twins and Isobel is their mother. Their last name is Flemming.

Enjoy!

**Summary**

AU/All Human. Elena is starting back to school after being away for nearly a year and half. No one truly knows everything that happened before she left and while she was gone. Not even Elena.

**Chapter 1**

"Good morning!" Elena announced as she appeared in the kitchen. Elena headed straight for the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice. When she turned back around, her family was giving her strange looks. "What?" Elena asked, confused.

"Nothing," her mother, Isobel, said as she shook her head slightly and stood up from the table. Her step-father, Alaric, turned back to the newspaper he was reading, and her twin sister, Katherine, turned back to continue cutting up the pancakes in front of her to give to the nearly two year-old in the high chair. "It's just, this is your first day back at school and-"

"Yeah, Mom. And it's Kat's first day too. Senior year- woot!" Elena pumped her fist in the air for good measure. She grabbed the extra cup that was sitting on the counter for her.

Isobel gave an exasperated sigh. "You know that's not what I mean."

"I know." Elena said as she poured the juice, then began to screw the lid back on. "I just wish you would stop making this a bigger deal than it actually is. I had a break down a year and a half ago."

"It wasn't just a breakdown, Elena. You almost died!"

"And it was over a year ago! It's in the past. It's been dealt with, and I've been fine for months. You don't have to treat me with kid gloves! I'm fine."

"You've been using that word 'fine' a lot."

"Because I am!"

A cry came from upstairs, and Isobel sighed. "Now your sister's awake."

"I'll get her." Alaric said as he stood from the table.

"Thank you, baby." Isobel said and turned to give Alaric a quick kiss before he headed upstairs.

"Kat and I should go. Don't want to be late for the first day of senior year." Elena took a gulp of juice and walked to the door and grabbed her book bag.

"Elena!" Isobel called before she appeared in the room. Elena sighed and looked at her mother. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

Katherine appeared around the corner carrying the little girl she had been feeding.

"Okay, Bri. Go to Momo." Isobel held her hands out for the little girl who happily went to her. Katherine grabbed her things and followed Elena out the door.

"So," Katherine started once they were already on their way to school. "I know you kind of shot Mom down before, but are you sure you're ready?"

Elena let out the breath she had been holding. "Honestly? No. But if I don't go back now, I don't think I ever will. And, I mean, it's our senior year. Even though a lot of shit has happened since Freshman year, the one thing I always knew is that we would spend Senior year together."

Katherine smiled at her sister from the driver's seat. They pulled into the parking lot and Elena looked up at the school. It seemed so foreign yet so familiar.

"Hey look," Katherine said as she turned to glance out the window. "It's Caroline!"

_"___Alright, girls. Do you have everything?" Isobel asked her daughters from the driver's seat. "Books? Pens?" She paused and lowered her voice. "Tampons?"__

_"___Mom!" Elena and Katherine both yelled.__

_"___I'm sorry! I just want to make sure that you're prepared. It's your first day of high school."__

_"___We're fine, Mom." Elena told her.__

_"___Hey look! It's Caroline!" Katherine jumped out. "Bye!" She said quickly before running away from the car. "Hey, Care! Wait up!"__

__Isobel sighed. "I love you."__

_"___Love you too, Mom." Elena smiled and closed the door, then ran to catch up with her sister.__

_"___It was so amazing!" Elena heard Caroline say as she approached them.__

_"___What was amazing?"__

_"___What took you so long, slowpoke?" Katherine asked.__

__Elena rolled her eyes and decided she wouldn't answer. Caroline understood what that eye-roll meant and answered Elena's question. "I was just telling Katherine about my trip to the Bahamas. My dad rented a room at the Atlantis for the entire summer!"__

_"___Daddy buying your affection again?" Katherine joked.__

__Caroline shrugged. "At least he's making the attempt."__

_"___Speaking of father figures making attempts..." Elena started.__

_"___Remember that Ric guy, mom started dating last year?" Katherine finished her sister's thought.__

_"___Yeah." Caroline said slowly unsure of where this was headed.__

_"___He took us on a date." Katherine said, almost disgusted.__

_"___What?!" Caroline exclaimed.__

_"___It wasn't a date!" Elena countered as she rolled her eyes.__

_"___Oh yeah? What do you call dinner and a movie?" Katherine asked her sister.__

_"___I call it spending time with his girlfriend's daughters." She said to Katherine then turned to Caroline, "It looks like he and Mom are getting pretty serious, and I think it's sweet that he's trying to get to know us."__

_"___What you call 'sweet' I call 'weird and creepy'."__

_"___Obviously, we don't agree on the matter." Elena told Caroline.__

_"___I can see that." Caroline began walking inside and the twins followed her.__

_"___This is it, guys" Katherine said as they stepped inside the school.__

_"___The first day of the rest of our lives." Elena added.__

"The first day of the rest of our lives." Elena mumbled.

"What?" Katherine asked.

Elena shook herself out of her thoughts ."What?"

"You said something."

"I did? Sorry. I was just thinking about the first day of Freshman year."

"Wow, that seems so long ago."

"I know. Like a lifetime ago."

"You mean a Lifetime movie ago."

"Try like four Lifetime movies." The two girls giggled. "I've missed this." Elena said.

"Me too. I'm glad you're finally back."

Katherine squeezed her sister's hand and smiled. They heard tapping on the window and looked up.

"Guys!" Caroline yelled, "Hurry up! We'll be late!" Caroline gave Elena a huge hug when she got out of the car. "Oh my gosh! I've missed you so much! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Care."

"That's good. Katherine, how are Bri and Hilly?"

"They're both growing up way too fast."

"Why didn't you ask me about Hillarie?" Elena asked suddenly. Hurt was evident in her voice.

"What?" Caroline asked. She knew exactly what Elena had said, but she was a little embarrassed that Elena had called her out.

"I mean, she's my sister too."

"I-" Caroline stuttered. "I just...you haven't lived with her as long as Katherine has. I didn't think-"

Elena forced a smile. "It's fine. I get it, Care." Elena walked ahead of the other two and into the school.

The school hadn't changed a whole lot. One difference that caught her eye though was a large frame. In large letters at the top was written: "We Will Never Forget". Eleven black ribbons were underneath with gold writing on them.

__Gunshots rang out. Screams filled her ears. Elena was ducked underneath a table in the library. She could hear someone calling her name, but she was too afraid to respond.__

_"___Elena! Elena!"__

"Elena!" Katherine called.

Elena jerked out of her thoughts.

"Why are there 11?" She asked as she motioned to the frame. "They only killed 9."

"Lena-" Katherine started sadly.

"Why are there 11?!" Elena yelled causing a few kids to stop and turn their heads.

Katherine gave the nosy kids a look and pulled Elena to the side. She took a deep breath before starting, "They may have killed 9 people, but they died too, Elena."

"And we're memorializing them?"

"The Lockwoods were the ones who had the frame commissioned. Of course they were going to recognize their son." Elena's breathing became rapid. "Are you okay?" Katherine asked her.

Elena shook her head. "Mom was right. I can't be here."

Elena turned and ran toward the door. Just as she was almost outside, she nearly ran into someone. Whoever it was grabbed her shoulders.

"Whoa! Wait...Elena?"

Elena looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Stefan?"

"Are you okay?"

"Let me go, Stefan." Elena struggled against him. "I have to get out of here."

"Elena, calm down."

"I said let me go!" Elena gave one final push hard enough to knock Stefan off balance so that she could get away.

She just started running with no clear direction on where she was headed. The other students were giving her strange looks, but Elena didn't care. She headed into the wooded area near the school, and ran far enough that she was engulfed by trees and there was no obvious way out. Suddenly, her foot caught on a fallen branch and she tripped. Elena eased herself up to a sitting position and fell back against a tree as painful sobs escaped her chest. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, when she heard it.

"Elena? Elena Flemming?" A voice she'd never expected to hear in Mystic Falls called out.

Elena looked up, caught by surprise and positive that she was mistaken, but sure enough there stood Rebekah Mikaelson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

**Bulldozed88** asked about pairings and if other Originals would make an appearance.

On Pairings: I purposely left them out of the description, because I honestly have no idea where it's headed. There are a couple of established pairings that you'll find out over the next couple of chapters as they arise within conversations and flashbacks. I _will_ say that in the show I like Elena with Damon and Caroline with either Klaus or Stefan. BUT when I start writing, I start doing things that I would never in a million years want to see happen on the show. I also don't want to list a pairing and attract an audience that way, only to break them up and have everybody get mad. (I once listed Elena and Damon's names side by side, but not as a pairing and when there wasn't a whole lot of Delena one of the readers got mad. I kindly explained that I never said the story was a Delena fic, to which they apologized and we all moved on, but I can't imagine the hate mail forming if I had). If you have preferred pairings, or if you like the chemistry I've written between two characters, let me know. I can't guarantee that I will put them together, but if you give me an idea, I'll give you credit. I know I have some ideas on relationships that I would like to explore, so if I find out you're feeling the same way that may change how things go.

As for Originals: Nik makes an appearance in this chapter, and yes, he is referred to as 'Nik.' 'Klaus' works as an angry 1000 year-old vampire name, but I prefer calling him "Nik" since he's supposed to be a human teenager in this story. I haven't decided if the other Originals will appear- and if they appear, if they'll even be siblings.

**Disclaimer:**

This chapter brings up a recurring location called Sybill. I'm not sure if there's a place like Sybill that exists, so I'm not basing it on anything. What it is will be explained more in chapters 3 and 4.

**Chapter 2**

"Bex!" For the first time since she'd been home, Elena was happy to be here. She wiped her eyes, stood, and stumbled over to her friend to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Rebekah said as she looked up at the trees, then swatted a bug away from her.

"You first." Elena said as she folded her arms.

Rebekah sighed. "My mother decided that two years at Sybill was enough and figured she'd give me a chance out here at a "real" school. Plus, she wanted my brother and I to be able to graduate together.

"But why Mystic Falls?"

"Elena, where have you been the past year?" Rebekah held back a laugh. "My family lives here. I told you that the day we met."

Elena was sure she would remember if Rebekah had mentioned her family living in the same town she was from, but then again, she'd had a lot going on when she first started at Sybill. She didn't remember her first month there. Then she made a realization. "Wait! Is Nik your brother?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"_This is going to be awesome!" Caroline squealed as Elena and Katherine exchanged glances and shook their heads. Caroline turned toward them, but kept walking backwards. "First we have to figure how many classes we have together, plan study nights, find the best table in the cafeteria and claim it for the next four years-"_

"_Care, watch out!" Elena said quickly._

_Caroline gasped and whipped around just in time to run into somebody and fall to the ground._

_The twins' hands immediately covered their mouths as they both tried their best not to laugh._

"_My apologies." The guy said with a smooth English accent._

_Both girls' hands fell from their mouths, to reveal their dropped jaws._

_He reached down to help Caroline up off of the floor._

"_Sexy." Caroline said breathless._

_The boy raised his eyebrow. "Come again?"_

_Caroline's eyes widened as she realized what she said. "Okay!" She said quickly. "I said 'It's okay.'" Caroline grabbed his hand and he lifted her off the ground. "It's my fault. I should have been looking where I was going."_

"_No, I wasn't looking either. Otherwise, I would have veered away from the girl walking backwards through the hall."_

_Caroline giggled. The boy smiled and extended his hand. "I'm Nik. My family just moved here."_

"_I'm Caroline. I've lived here all my life." Katherine and Elena cleared their throats. "And these are my friends, Katherine and Elena. They're twins."_

"_I had no idea."_

"_Really? Because I couldn't tell them apart for the first two years I knew-"Caroline noticed the smile Nik was giving her. "You were joking."_

"_You know, I've always heard that British humor was quite different from American humor, but I assumed sarcasm was universal." Caroline smiled, not knowing what else to say._

"_Well, it was nice to meet you, Caroline. I look forward to seeing you around."_

"_Me too...well not me. You." Nik laughed and walked away._

"_Bye." Caroline said in a high squeaky voice once Nik was out of earshot._

"_Caroline Forbes rendered speechless?" Katherine started._

"_I never thought I'd see the day." Elena finished._

"_You guys, did I actually...giggle?"_

"_Yes." Katherine admitted. "Yes you did."_

_Caroline groaned._

"_Come on," Elena said pulling the other two along. "Time for class. Don't want to be late."_

Elena leaned back against the tree. "Yeah, he's dating my friend, Caroline." She immediately felt a pang of guilt. At Sybill, honesty was a huge thing. She had never lied to Rebekah, and even just now not telling her everything made her feel rotten. "I'm sorry, that's not the truth."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow, "Are you not really friends with Caroline? Because he _is_ dating her. She's very...perky."

"No," Elena was shaking her head. "I am friends with her, at least I was before. I meant, that's not the only way I know him."

"Oh!" Rebekah smiled knowingly. "You two hooked up behind Cheer Captain's back." She leaned again the tree opposite Elena, but immediately jerked away from it as she swatted at another invisible creature.

"What?! No! No nothing like that. I just... I probably owe him my life. Several times over."

"My brother, the hero."

Elena shrugged. "He probably doesn't realize what he did. I don't know if I would consider us anything more than acquaintances, but he always seemed to be there in the darkest parts of my life."

"Like what?" Rebekah leaned in as if expecting to hear some juicy gossip.

"Well, for starters, when it started getting bad..."

_Elena stared at the clock. Even though she was wearing a long sweater, she was shivering, and it wasn't exactly cold inside the classroom. She nibbled on her thumbnail and subconsciously rocked back and forth. The voices in her head were getting louder. She wasn't crazy. The voices were real. They pleaded with her, they mocked her, and they berated her. These voices belonged to real people. Real people with real lives. Well not anymore. Not since-_

_Her thoughts were cut off by the ringing of the bell. Elena grabbed her stuff as quickly as possible and made a beeline for the bathroom. She found the first available stall and reached into her purse to pull a bottle of pills. It wasn't what she really wanted, but they would have to suffice for now. She emptied the bottle into her hand and knocked them back into her mouth. She reached into her purse again and pulled out the bottle of water and gulped it down. As she walked out of the bathroom, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her around the corner._

"_What the-Nik?"_

"_What the hell are you on, Elena?"_

"_What the hell are _you_ on, Nik? You can't just go around grabbing girls like that."_

"_I see what you're doing. And let me tell you, you're not just hurting yourself. Something is wrong and you need help."_

"_Go to hell, Nik." Elena tried to walk away, but Nik's grip tightened around her wrist jerking her back toward him. She looked up into his eyes and saw hurt. "Why do you care so much? We're not even friends."_

"_Friends or not, I've seen the effect drugs have on people. You need to stop, before you kill yourself."_

"_But what if that's what I want? What if my life is just so screwed up that I don't even want to be living in it anymore?"_

"_Then, you need to talk to someone. Hell, if you don't have anybody else to talk to, talk to me." Nik paused and Elena looked down. "Give me your phone."_

_Elena sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. He fiddled with it for a second before saying "There, now you have my number," Then his phone began to buzz in his pocket, "And I have yours." He hung up with himself and handed Elena's phone back to her. She snatched it and stuffed it back in her pocket. _

"_Are you done?"_

_When Nik didn't reply, she just turned and walked away._

"It was the first time anybody confronted me about what was going on."

"I can't believe you never told that story at Sybill." Rebekah said.

Elena shrugged. "It never came up in group. I talked about it solo sessions. It just seemed too personal to share with everybody. If I'd realized he was your brother, I would have told you sooner though."

"Well, I guess I can forgive you for that."

Elena cracked a sad smiled, before mentioning, "He was also the one that found me _that day_."

"Like I said. My brother, the hero."

The girls shared a chuckle. In the distance, they heard the bell. "That means we're late. Doesn't it?" Rebekah asked.

Elena nodded. "Yep. I didn't want to be there anyway."

"That's right!"

"What?"

"You never told me why you were out here in the first place. You told me that story about Nik, just to avoid telling me why you were here. Didn't you?"

Elena smiled and softly shook her head. "That wasn't my intention, Bex."

"Then spill. Why did I see you running away from the school like it was on fire?"

Elena squeezed her eyes shut as she thought about the frame and heard the gunshots in her mind yet again. "They framed a banner. For the shooting." The shooting had come up plenty of time in group sessions and in private conversations. "They killed nine, but they framed eleven ribbons."

"Two for _them_?"

Elena nodded. "_Because they died too." _A thought popped in her head, "Come to think of it, Nik was one of the few people that was there when it happened." _One of the few people here who knows the truth._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

So, sorry that it took me so long to update. I've had this chapter written for awhile (and several chapters after this), but I was waiting for more people to comment and then I had friends in town so this just kept getting pushed to the background. So here's the next chapter, and really, comments are appreciated and you get updates faster.

**Chapter 3**

"We should probably get back." Rebekah finally said. "I don't want to be known as a trouble maker on my first day."

"Yeah. I was actually supposed to meet with the guidance counselor."

"Hey! Me too!" They began their walk back not really saying much. Once they neared the school Elena noticed the guy standing outside.

She almost didn't recognize him until he exclaimed, "Rebekah! Where the bloody hell have you been?"

"Oh, hello, brother. Nice to see you too."

"If mother finds out you were late after I vouched for you to get here on your own I-"

"It's not her fault, Nik." Elena spoke up.

Nik's head whipped around toward Elena, noticing her for the first time. His expression softened to one of sympathy, and his voice lowered. "Elena?"

"Bex saw me run off in the middle of freak-out mode and came out to talk me down."

Nik took a deep breath. "Are you okay now?"

Elena nodded and forced a smile."I'm fine."

He pointed toward the school. "Get inside. Both of you."

"Yes sir." Rebekah smirked, and leaned over to Elena. "He's 10 minutes older, but acts like I'm 10 years younger."

"I heard that." He said from behind them.

Rebekah turned around, "Oh, I didn't think it was secret."

Rebekah and Elena found the guidance counselor's office. Rebekah was called in first, so Elena sat in the waiting area right outside of the office. It consisted of two chairs and a clock. A very loud clock. Or maybe the clock wasn't loud, maybe it was the lack of clocks the past year and a half that made her hyperaware of the fact that there was a clock a few feet away from her. The ticking was enough to make anybody go crazy.

The door to the office opened up and Rebekah walked out. "Your turn." She told Elena. Elena stood and hooked her pinky with Rebekah's as she passed. It was something they had started back at Sybill, though she couldn't remember how. "See you at lunch?" The blonde asked.

"If not before."

"Come in and close the door." The woman behind the desk said to Elena as she appeared in the doorway. Elena did as she was told, and turned to look at the woman. She was fairly young and actually pretty. Not exactly what she pictured when she thought about a guidance counselor. "Sit down. Make yourself at home."

Elena sat, and looked around the office. A Doctorate of Psychology degree was framed on the wall, as were several other awards. "A Psychologist." Elena said it as a statement.

"Do you have a problem with psychologists?" The counselor asked her.

Elena shook her head and shrugged. "I haven't met one I hated yet."

"Well, I hope I don't change that for you." The woman stood and walked around the desk and sat on the edge. She wasn't dressed in a suit. It was just a simple skirt and top that Elena secret wished she had in her closet. "It's not my intention to make any of my students dislike me or fear me. I want you to be able to come to talk to me about any and everything." Elena nodded and the lady grabbed the open file on her desk. "So, Elena Flemming, correct?" Elena nodded again. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Elena. Let me introduce myself. My name is Meredith Fell. You can call me Meredith, or Dr. Fell, or a variation thereof. Just don't call me _miss_. It makes me feel old. As you saw, I have my doctorate degree in psychology. I did my thesis on how school shootings affect students and faculty differently." Elena heard the gunshots and screams in the back of her mind, but tried to shake them off. "Apparently, you were the reason they finally asked me to come onto the staff. It was shortly after you left the school that I was hired. I think they wished they had asked me to come on sooner. Do you think that would have helped you?"

Elena shrugged. "I can't say for sure. It took me awhile to open up to my doctors about it. I don't know if you would have had much success."

Meredith nodded. "Fair enough. I guess we'll never know."

"I guess not."

"So, just taking a look at your file, I see you have a sister that goes here as well."

Elena nodded. "Katherine. She's two minutes older."

"You know, I've always found twins so fascinating. I almost did my thesis on twins, before I found out that's what somebody else in my class was doing their thesis on. Off the subject, would you mind if during one of our meetings, we talked more about you and Katherine?"

"Wait..._one_ of our meetings? There's going to be more?"

Meredith nodded, "I would like to meet with you once a week just to make sure you're adjusting well. At least for the first month or two."

Elena scoffed. "Forced weekly meetings is not the way to gain your student's favor."

Meredith threw her hands up. "I never said they were forced. There was no condition made that says you have to see me. I just don't want to see you end up back where you were. I tell you what. Fridays, 10-11 are reserved for you. You've got free period. If you need to talk, I'll be here. If not, I'll play solitaire for an hour. Maybe read a book." Elena cracked a smile. "Back to your file, you left the school in March of your sophomore year. What exactly happened?"

Elena thought back, but everything was fuzzy. "I don't remember. I just know what I was told. I was at a party..."

_Elena walked up to the house. She could hear the bass thumping, and saw a few people scattered across the lawn just talking. She walked inside and was almost immediately found by Caroline._

"_Elena! I didn't think you were going to be here." Caroline had a drink in her hand and was definitely already buzzed. "How's the baby? Is she loud? I bet she's loud." She combined the last two sentences into one and slurred her words. "Does Katherine feed her with her boobs?" Caroline giggled. "Oh my God! Tell her, if she wants someone to watch her, I'm _totally _up for it. I'll bring Nik and we can make out while she's asleep. It'll be awesome!"_

"_Kat will be back at school full time next week, You can talk about it with her then." Elena's gaze darted around as she absently chewed on her thumbnail._

"_Nikki, baby!" Caroline yelled. _

"_I told you not to call me Nikki, Caroline."_

"_Sorry, baby." Caroline giggled._

"_Alright, I'm cutting you off." Nik told her as he grabbed the cup and sat it down on the nearest table. "Let's see if I can get some coffee going for you." Nik looked up. "Elena, would you like to join?"_

"_Fuck off, Nik." Elena muttered angrily before heading toward the stairs._

"_Oooooh, buuuurrrrnnnn." Caroline slurred. Nik led her back to the kitchen while Elena continued up the stairs. She came up to a door that was closed, and knocked once before opening it. Luckily it was the one she was looking for. Her nostrils were immediately filled with marijuana smoke. She inhaled as if taking a breath of fresh air. Her eyes settled on Jeremy. He was...well, her supplier. There was no other name for it. _

"_What do you have?" Elena asked. Jeremy's father was a doctor so it was easy for him to get prescription meds. Sometimes he would make trades with some street dealers for more of the "club drugs": X, roofies, etc._

"_Chill, girl. I got you."_

* * *

><p>"<em>Mmmm coffee." Caroline inhaled the fumes of her second cup. "I looove coffee." She took a sip then looked at Nik's face. "You look worried."<em>

"_I do?" He sighed. "Sorry. Elena just didn't seem right tonight."_

_Caroline, nodded, shrugged and rolled her eyes all at once, "Yeah, but I think it's just lack of sleep."_

_Nik shook his head. "I would have blamed it on lack of sleep two months ago. The baby was born right after Thanksgiving. This is March." Nik sighed. "Something just doesn't feel right."_

"_Oh my god." Jeremy came running into the kitchen. "Oh my god. Oh my god!" _

"_Jeremy!" Nik grabbed his shoulders. "What's going on?"_

"_I think she's dead, dude. I can't go down for that, man."_

"_Who, what happened?" Caroline ask as she stood up from the stool she sitting on. Her heartbeat quickened._

"_Elena, dude. Man, she took some pills. I don't know what they were, then she downed them with some vodka, man I-"_

_Nik and Caroline didn't hear anything else. They took off toward the stairs, the last place they saw her. _

"_Elena!" Caroline called, hoping for a response. They followed the smell of weed to a door that wasn't fully closed. Nik swung the door open and saw a lump on the floor._

"_Oh God, Elena!" Caroline screamed. Nik ran over to her, feeling for a pulse and checking to see if she was breathing. Her pulse was faint and her breaths were short, but they were still there. "Where's my phone?" Caroline was shaking as she reached into her pockets. Nik scooped Elena up in his arms. _

"_There's no time. We're taking her to the hospital ourselves." Nik and Caroline raced down the stairs and out to Nik's car. "Get in the back." He directed his girlfriend, then put Elena back there with her. "Let me know if she stops breathing." He instructed then raced around to the driver's side. "Call 911. Tell them we're taking her to Mystic Falls General. Let them know what kind of car I'm driving and that I have my emergency lights on." Shortly after Caroline made the call, a sheriff's car sped in front of them and turned on its lights to lead them to the hospital._

"_It's going to be okay, Elena." Caroline soothed before calling her own mother. It would be the Sheriff's job to call Isobel._

"I was in the hospital for a couple of days, then Rehab until May, spent part of the summer in MFS-"

"Mystic Falls Sanitarium?" Meredith questioned.

"That's the one. Then, at the end of July, I went off to Sybill."

"Sybill, huh. Did you know Rebekah Mikaelson?" Meredith pointed toward the door. "She was there."

Elena nodded. "She was my roommate. My best friend there."

Meredith nodded. "What did you think of Sybill?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Meredith shrugged, "It's a pretty straightforward question. Let's say you bring your file out to that office aide, so he can put it away and it falls. He sees the word "Sybill" and asks you what it is. What would you tell him?"

"I'd tell him it's none of his damn business."

"Okay, different scenario. One of your teachers asks you why you weren't in school last year. What do you tell them?"

"I'd tell them I went to a boarding school out of state."

"So, to you Sybill is a school."

"Well yeah, I mean... don't get me wrong. I know it's not just any old school. It's basically rehab, the loony bin, and a school all rolled into one."

"Did you like it there?"

Elena thought about it. "Yeah, I did."

"Would you rather be here or there right now?"

"There." She answered quickly before her brain had time to stop herself from saying the answer.

"Why?"

Elena thought about that for a moment. Why _would_ she rather be there than here? The shrill ringing of the bell interrupted her thoughts just a clear one was coming into focus.

"Well, that's enough for today. It's great to meet you, Elena. Remember, Fridays at 10." Meredith handed over a small stack of papers. "There's a pass for your first class for tomorrow and your schedule. You have English now... so have a good day." Meredith smiled and walked around the desk to her chair.

Elena stood and walked to the door. She opened it then stopped. "Meredith?" Elena said as she turned to face her counselor. Meredith looked up. "When I was at Sybill, I didn't hear the gunshots. Since I've gotten back to Mystic Falls, they haven't stopped."

Meredith's forehead wrinkled in concern. "Thank you for being honest, Elena."

Elena nodded before walking out and to her first class of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When Elena got to the classroom, there weren't many seats left. In fact, there were only two: one next to Katherine and the other next to Rebekah on the opposite side of the room. Katherine nodded toward the empty desk next to hers, but Elena smiled sympathetically before heading over to the one next to Rebekah. She knew she would get an earful from Katherine later, but didn't feel like explaining herself during English.

"How was your session with Meredith?" Rebekah asked when Elena sat down.

"It was okay. She wanted to know what happened when I left sophomore year. She kind of remind me of Shane."

"I totally got the 'Shane' vibe too!"

Elena smiled. "What about you? What did you guys talk about?"

"Mainly she wanted to know how I ended up at Sybill."

Elena nodded. "She asked me if I'd rather be there right now."

"What'd you tell her?"

Elena opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the teacher starting class.

* * *

><p>"What do you have now?" Rebekah asked once the bell rang.<p>

"Free period."

"Good, me too. Let's talk." Katherine said as she came up behind Elena and grabbed her arm.

"See you at lunch!" Rebekah called out before heading down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked her sister.

"Library."

"What?!" Elena exclaimed and began to pull away.

"What is wrong with you?" Katherine stopped and spun around.

"You wanna talk? Let's go outside and talk. But I'm not going in the library."

Katherine stared at her sister for a moment before realization sunk in. "Fine. We'll go outside. But you'll have to face your fear one day or another."

"No, I really don't." Elena said as the two girls turned around and headed toward the front of the school. "I just have to make it through the next 9 months and I don't even have to step foot in this school again."

Once they made it outside, Katherine turned to her sister. "So, first things first. You _pushed_ my boyfriend?!"

Elena was confused for a moment before remembering her run in with Stefan. "Oh, so you guys _are_ still together! I was going to ask you, but I didn't want to-"Katherine cleared her throat and Elena sighed. "I would have pushed anybody preventing me from trying to get out of here this morning."

"What happened?"

"You _know _what happened, Kat. People died. Right in front of me. In front of us! I just... I haven't had to deal with that in awhile... ever really. I did the complete opposite of dealing with it. It just hit me all at once when I was met with that huge banner as soon as I walked in the school. I couldn't breathe and fight or flight kicked in. Then I ran into Stefan and in that case I fought then flew."

"What did he do?"

"Nothing, like I said, I ran into him. Literally. He grabbed me. I couldn't breathe and told him to let me go and he just wouldn't, so I pushed him."

"Where did you go? You missed the entire first period."

"Well, in fairness, I had to meet with the guidance counselor. Most of that time was spent either _with_ her or _waiting_ for her. But, I was a little late for my meeting because I ran out into the woods and Rebekah Mikaelson came and found me and we talked a bit."

"Nik's sister? Elena, I don't want you hanging around her."

Elena could help the laugh that came out. "Are you kidding me?"

"I just don't want to see her bring you down. You're doing so well, and from what Nik says she sounds...unstable."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this right now!" Elena was fighting the urge to both laugh and cry. "You don't know anything about her."

"And you do?"

"Yeah. I do. She's been my roommate for the past year! They made her my _mentor _at Sybill. She knows me better than anybody here, and if you think _she's_ unstable then what do you think of me?" Elena couldn't stop the tears from coming. She sat down on the stairs and buried her face in her hands.

Katherine opened and closed her mouth several times, unsure of what to say. Finally she softly said, "I'm sorry," as she sat down next to her sister.

Elena shook her head. "It's not your fault." She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Then why do I feel like it is? Maybe if I'd paid more attention to you back then I-"

"Kat, no. You were a new mom, you were recovering from the C-section, and you were trying to keep up with school. It wasn't your job to pay attention to me. Plus, it wouldn't have mattered if you were paying attention to me or not. I wasn't doing it for attention. I would have just ended up in rehab sooner."

"Why _were_ you doing it? If it wasn't for attention..."

Elena took a deep breath. "I-I'm sorry. I can't talk about it."

"Does _Rebekah_ know?"

"She knows part of it. The only person I've told everything to was my group leader at Sybill."

"Group leader?"

"We were divided up into groups of 20. We had one group leader who was a doctor that led the group sessions. Then we had individual sessions with our leader. It's easier to call someone your group leader than your shrink."

"Tell me more about the sessions." Katherine prodded. Clearly, she was trying to understand what happened while her sister was gone.

"Well, the group leader did 5 individual sessions a day Monday-Thursday. My session was on Tuesday. Friday we had one group session where we just sat in a circle discussing a topic. Saturdays we would do something together as a group. One time we went hiking, and we had a couple of movie nights." Elena smiled. "Then Sundays, we didn't have a scheduled session, but he made himself available if we needed him."

"Whoa, _him_?"

"Yeah, his name was Shane." Elena caught her sister's look. "He was completely professional, Kat. Like I said, he's a doctor."

"Fine." Katherine said then a smile formed, "Was he cute?"

"What? No! I mean, I don't know. Maybe. Honestly, I wasn't thinking about him like that."

"_Was _there anybody you were thinking about like that?"

"No." Elena said faster than she meant to.


End file.
